GAFCON IV – The Kigali Commitment

GAFCON IV – The Kigali Commitment

GAFCON IV – The Kigali Commitment

[Christ] is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.  Colossians 1:18

Greetings from Kigali, Rwanda, where the fourth Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) met from 17-21 April 2023, bringing together 1,302 delegates from 52 countries, including 315 bishops, 456 other clergy and 531 laity.

We were grateful for the extraordinary hospitality extended by Archbishop Laurent Mbanda and the Anglican Church of Rwanda. We were deeply saddened to hear the news of the loss of Laurent and Chantal’s son Edwin, and we continue to offer our prayers of comfort for the Mbanda family.

We were also privileged to be welcomed and addressed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Rwanda, the Right Honourable Edouard Ngirente who spoke of the significance of our gathering.

Our conference theme for 2023 ‘To Whom Shall We Go?’ (John 6:68), along with our Bible studies in the Letter to the Colossians, focused our attention on Jesus, the one in whom all the fullness of God dwells in bodily form, the Lord of all creation and the head of his body, the church (Colossians 1:15-19; 2:9). 

Our Chairman in his opening address encouraged us to be a repenting church, a reconciling church, a reproducing church and a relentlessly compassionate church. This is the church we want to be. 

We were reminded that the purpose and mission of the church is to make known to a lost world the glorious riches of the gospel by proclaiming Christ crucified and risen, and living faithfully together as his disciples. 

Our Fellowship Together

We gave thanks for God’s goodness and faithfulness to the Gafcon movement since its inception in 2008, as we rejoiced in a new generation of emerging leaders. It is God who unites us to himself and to one other in the power of his Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). From the diversity of our different backgrounds and cultures we delighted in our unity in Christ and the love that we share. 

Many among us are from contexts of persecution or conflict and we know that as one part of the body suffers, we all suffer. Some were unable to attend the conference because of this. We prayed for our brothers and sisters in Sudan, and for the suffering church. We also heard testimony of the power of the gospel to transform lives even in these circumstances through the prayer, kindness and compassion of Christians. 

The Authority of God’s Word

The current divisions in the Anglican Communion have been caused by radical departures from the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some within the Communion have been taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophies of this world (Colossians 2:8).  Such a failure to hear and heed God’s Word undermines the mission of the church as a whole. 

The Bible is God’s Word written, breathed out by God as it was written by his faithful messengers (2 Timothy 3:16). It carries God’s own authority, is its own interpreter, and it does not need to be supplemented, nor can it ever be overturned by human wisdom. 

God’s good Word is the rule of our lives as disciples of Jesus and is the final authority in the church.

It grounds, energises and directs our mission in the world. The fellowship we enjoy with our risen and ascended Lord is nourished as we trust God’s Word, obey it and encourage each other to allow it to shape each area of our lives.

This fellowship is broken when we turn aside from God’s Word or attempt to reinterpret it in any way that overturns the plain reading of the text in its canonical context and so deny its truthfulness, clarity, sufficiency, and thereby its authority (Jerusalem Declaration #2). 

The Current Crisis in the Anglican Communion

Despite 25 years of persistent warnings by most Anglican Primates, repeated departures from the authority of God’s Word have torn the fabric of the Communion. These warnings were blatantly and deliberately disregarded and now without repentance this tear cannot be mended.

The latest of these departures is the majority vote by the General Synod of the Church of England in February 2023 to welcome proposals by the bishops to enable same-sex couples to receive God’s blessing.  It grieves the Holy Spirit and us that the leadership of the Church of England is determined to bless sin.

Since the Lord does not bless same-sex unions, it is pastorally deceptive and blasphemous to craft prayers that invoke blessing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Any refusal to follow the biblical teaching that the only appropriate context for sexual activity is the exclusive lifelong union of a man and a woman in marriage violates the created order (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4–6) and endangers salvation (1 Corinthians 6:9).

Public statements by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other leaders of the Church of England in support of same-sex blessings are a betrayal of their ordination and consecration vows to banish error and to uphold and defend the truth taught in Scripture.

These statements are also a repudiation of Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference, which declared that ‘homosexual practice is incompatible with Scripture,’ and advised against the ‘legitimising or blessing of same sex unions’. This occurred despite the Archbishop of Canterbury having affirmed that ‘the validity of the resolution passed at the Lambeth Conference 1998, I.10 is not in doubt and that whole resolution is still in existence’. 

The 2022 Lambeth Conference demonstrated the deep divisions in the Anglican Communion as many bishops chose not to attend and some of those who did withdrew from sharing at the Lord’s table. 

The Failure of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Other Instruments of Communion

We have no confidence that the Archbishop of Canterbury nor the other Instruments of Communion led by him (the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates’ Meetings) are able to provide a godly way forward that will be acceptable to those who are committed to the truthfulness, clarity, sufficiency and authority of Scripture. The Instruments of Communion have failed to maintain true communion based on the Word of God and shared faith in Christ.

All four Instruments propose that the way ahead for the Anglican Communion is to learn to walk together in ‘good disagreement’. However we reject the claim that two contradictory positions can both be valid in matters affecting salvation. We cannot ‘walk together’ in good disagreement with those who have deliberately chosen to walk away from the ‘faith once for all delivered to the saints’ (Jude 3). The people of God ’walk in his ways’, ‘walk in the truth’, and ‘walk in the light’, all of which require that we do not walk in Christian fellowship with those in darkness (Deuteronomy 8:6; 2 John 4; 1 John 1:7).  

Successive Archbishops of Canterbury have failed to guard the faith by inviting bishops to Lambeth who have embraced or promoted practices contrary to Scripture. This failure of church discipline has been compounded by the current Archbishop of Canterbury who has himself welcomed the provision of liturgical resources to bless these practices contrary to Scripture. This renders his leadership role in the Anglican Communion entirely indefensible. 

Call for Repentance

Repentance defines and shapes the Christian life and the life of the church. Each day at the Conference, in response to God’s Word in Colossians, we were led in a time of repentance. 

Recognising our own sins, and in humility as forgiven sinners, we pray that those who have denied the orthodox Christian faith in word or deed would repent and return to the Lord (Jerusalem Declaration #13). 

Since those who teach will be judged more strictly (James 3:1), we call upon those provinces, dioceses and leaders who have departed from biblical orthodoxy to repent of their failure to uphold the Bible’s teaching. This includes matters such as human sexuality and marriage, the uniqueness and divinity of Christ, his bodily resurrection, his promised return, the summons to faith and repentance and the final judgment.

We long for this repentance but until they repent, our communion with them remains broken. 

We consider that those who refuse to repent have abdicated their right to leadership within the Anglican Communion, and we commit ourselves to working with orthodox Primates and other leaders to reset the Communion on its biblical foundations.

Support for Faithful Anglicans

Since the inception of Gafcon, it has been necessary for the Gafcon Primates to recognise new orthodox jurisdictions for faithful Anglicans, such as the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), the Anglican Church in Brazil, the Anglican Network in Europe (ANiE), the Church of Confessing Anglicans Aotearoa New Zealand, and the Diocese of the Southern Cross. We encourage the Gafcon Primates to continue to provide such safe harbour for faithful Anglicans.

In view of the current crisis, we reiterate our support for those who are unable to remain in the Church of England because of the failure of its leadership. We rejoice in the growth of the ANiE and other Gafcon-aligned networks. 

We also continue to stand with and pray for those faithful Anglicans who remain within the Church of England. We support their efforts to uphold biblical orthodoxy and to resist breaches of Resolution I.10. 

Appropriate Pastoral Care

Aware of our own sin and frailty, we commit ourselves to providing appropriate pastoral care to all people in our churches. This is all the more necessary in the current context of sexual and gender confusion, made worse by its deliberate and systematic promotion across the world. 

Appropriate pastoral care affirms faithfulness in marriage and abstinence in singleness. It is not appropriate pastoral care to mislead people, by pretending that God blesses sexually active relationships between two people of the same sex. This is unloving as it leads them into error and places a stumbling block in the way of their inheriting the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). 

We affirm that every person is loved by God and we are determined to love as God loves. As Resolution I.10 affirms, we oppose the vilification or demeaning of any person including those who do not follow God’s ways, since all human beings are created in God’s image. 

We are thankful to God for all those who seek to live a life of faithfulness to God’s Word in the face of all forms of sexual temptation. 

We pledge ourselves afresh to support and care for one another in a loving and pastorally sensitive way as members of Christ’s body, building one another up in the Word and in the Spirit, and encouraging each other to experience God’s transforming power as we walk by faith in the path of repentance and obedience that leads to fullness of life.

Resetting the Communion

We were delighted to be joined in Kigali by leaders of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) and to host a combined Gafcon-GSFA Primates meeting. Together, these Primates represent the overwhelming majority (estimated at 85%) of Anglicans worldwide.

The leadership of both groups affirmed and celebrated their complementary roles in the Anglican Communion. Gafcon is a movement focused on evangelism and mission, church planting and providing support and a home for faithful Anglicans who are pressured by or alienated from revisionist dioceses and provinces. GSFA, on the other hand, is focused on establishing doctrinally based structures within the Communion. 

We rejoice in the united commitment of both groups on three fundamentals: the lordship of Jesus Christ; the authority and clarity of the Word of God; and the priority of the church’s mission to the world. We acknowledge their agreement that ‘communion’ between churches and Christians must be based on doctrine (Jerusalem Declaration #13; GSFA Covenant 2.1.6). Anglican identity is defined by this and not by recognition from the See of Canterbury.

Both GSFA and Gafcon Primates share the view that, due to the departures from orthodoxy articulated above, they can no longer recognise the Archbishop of Canterbury as an Instrument of Communion, the ‘first among equals’ of the Primates. The Church of England has chosen to impair her relationship with the orthodox provinces in the Communion. 

We welcome the GSFA’s Ash Wednesday Statement of 20 February 2023, calling for a resetting and reordering of the Communion. We applaud the invitation of the GSFA Primates to collaborate with Gafcon and other orthodox Anglican groupings to work out the shape and nature of our common life together and how we are to maintain the priority of proclaiming the gospel and making disciples of all nations.

Resetting the Communion is an urgent matter.  It needs an adequate and robust foundation that addresses the legal and constitutional complexities in various Provinces. The goal is that orthodox Anglicans worldwide will have a clear identity, a global ‘spiritual home’ of which they can be proud, and a strong leadership structure that gives them stability and direction as Global Anglicans. We therefore commit to pray that God will guide this process of resetting, and that Gafcon and GSFA will keep in step with the Spirit.

Our Future Together

As we considered the future of our movement we welcomed the following seven priorities articulated by the General Secretary and endorsed by the Gafcon Primates.

We will engage in a decade of discipleship, evangelism and mission (2023-2033).

We will devote ourselves to raising up the next generation of leaders in Gafcon through Bible-based theological education that will equip them to be Christ-centred and servant-hearted.

We will prioritise youth and children’s ministry that instructs them in the Word of the Lord, disciples them to maturity in Christ and equips them for a lifetime of Christian service. 

We will affirm and encourage the vital and diverse ministries, including leadership roles, of Gafcon women in family, church and society, both as individuals and as groups.

We will demonstrate the compassion of Christ through the many Gafcon mercy ministries.

We will resource and support bishops’ training that produces faithful, courageous, servant leaders.

We will build the bonds of fellowship and mutual edification through interprovincial visits of our Primates. 

Arising from our conference we encouraged the Primates Council also to prioritise discipleship for boys and men.

In order to pursue these priorities and to grow the work of the Gafcon movement, we endorsed the establishment of a foundation endowment. We also encouraged the Gafcon provinces to become financially self-sufficient, not only to advance mission but also to avoid being vulnerable to economic manipulation. 

Most importantly of all, we commit ourselves afresh to the gospel mission of proclaiming the crucified, risen and ascended Christ, calling on all to acknowledge him as Lord in repentance and faith, and living out a joyful, faithful obedience to his Word in all areas of our lives. We will explore fresh ways to encourage each other, to pray for one another and to hold each other accountable in these things.

We commit ourselves into the hands of our almighty and loving heavenly Father with confidence that he will fulfil all his promises and, even through a time of pruning, Christ will build his church.

‘To whom shall we go?’ 
We go to Christ who alone has the words of eternal life (John 6:68) 
and then we go with Christ to the whole world. Amen

Kigali, Rwanda 21 April 2023

ABOUT THE DECISION OF THE GENERAL SYNOD OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND TO “BLESS” SAME-SEX UNIONS.

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.2 Timóteo 4:2-5

THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN BRAZIL STATEMENT

After publicization in the national and international media about the decision of the General Synod of the Church of England to “bless” same-sex unions, the Anglican Church in Brazil joins the findings of the GSFA (Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches and the GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference) and understand the need to make the following clarifications.

1. The Anglican Communion comprises more than 40 autonomous provinces, which are national churches and, in some cases, multinationals, involving more than one country. Their canons govern them. And they are expected to live in unity with the other Provinces of The Communion.

2. The Anglicans in England form “The Church of England,” and it is one of those more than 40 Provinces.

3. The decision made by the Church of England at its national Synod 2023 does not affect the other churches of the Anglican Communion and applies only to that church.

4. The Anglican Church in Brazil is part of Anglicans around the world who remain faithful to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and follow the resolutions established by their majority at the Lambeth Conference in 1998, especially that concerning human sexuality (resolution 1:10)

5. The Anglican Church in Brazil is part of The GAFCON (Global Conference for the Future of Anglicanism) signatory of the “Jerusalem Declaration,” and a member of The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), which brings together more than 70 million Anglicans worldwide who remain faithful to the Bible as the Word of God.

6. The Anglican Church in Brazil refutes the biblical revisionism that has been “tearing” the fragile fabric of church unity.

7. As Christians, we love all human beings seeing them as God’s creation and, as such, in constant need of God’s love and forgiveness; from ourselves, we can also identify sin in our lives.

8. The Union between a man and a woman is how we biblically understand marriage, so we defend and practice it. (Gen 2:24)

9. We come against violence against any human being despite their sexual identity and recognize the need for pastoral care for those in conflict.

10. We are looking forward to the GAFCON IV in April when together with thousands of Anglicans, we will pray, reflect and decide the next steps to be taken on the subject

DECISION OF THE ACiB

In reflection and prayer, the Executive Council of the Anglican Church in Brazil decided: To declare impaired communion with Dioceses, churches, institutions, and leaders in the Anglican Communion that support the CoE General Synod 2023 resolutions on same-sex blessings. We also eagerly believe that many Anglicans in England hold to the orthodox faith and are under threat, so we offer our prayers and support in any possible way.


The Most Revd. Miguel Uchoa
Archbishop and Primate
Chair of the Executive Committee

SOBRE A DECISÃO DO SÍNODO GERAL DA IGREJA DA INGLATERRA DE “ABENÇOAR” AS UNIÕES DO MESMO SEXO.

Pregue a palavra; estar preparado na estação e fora de época; corrija, repreenda e encoraje — com grande paciência e cuidadosa instrução. Pois virá o tempo em que as pessoas não suportarão a sã doutrina. Em vez disso, para atender aos seus próprios desejos, eles reunirão em torno deles um grande número de professores para dizer o que seus ouvidos coçando querem ouvir. 2 Timóteo 4:2-5

A DECLARAÇÃO DA IGREJA ANGLICANA NO BRASIL

Após a divulgação na mídia nacional e internacional sobre a decisão do Sínodo Geral da Igreja da Inglaterra de “abençoar” as uniões do mesmo sexo, a Igreja Anglicana no Brasil se une às conclusões da GSFA (Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches e da GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference) e entende a necessidade de fazer os seguintes esclarecimentos.

1. A Comunhão Anglicana compreende mais de 40 províncias autônomas, que são igrejas nacionais e, em alguns casos, multinacionais, envolvendo mais de um país. Seus cânones os governam. E espera-se que vivam em unidade com as outras Províncias da Comunhão.

2. Os anglicanos na Inglaterra formam “A Igreja da Inglaterra”, e é uma dessas mais de 40 províncias.
3. A decisão tomada pela Igreja da Inglaterra em seu sínodo nacional esta semana não afeta as outras igrejas da Comunhão Anglicana e se aplica apenas a essa igreja.

4. A Igreja Anglicana no Brasil faz parte de anglicanos em todo o mundo que permanecem fiéis às Sagradas Escrituras do Antigo e do Novo Testamento e seguem as resoluções estabelecidas por sua maioria na Conferência de Lambeth em 1998, especialmente a relativa à sexualidade humana (resolução 1:10)

5. A Igreja Anglicana no Brasil faz parte da GAFCON (Conferência Global para o Futuro do Anglicanismo), signatária da “Declaração de Jerusalém” e membro da Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), que reúne mais de 70 milhões de anglicanos em todo o mundo que permanecem fiéis à Bíblia como a Palavra de Deus.

6. A Igreja Anglicana no Brasil refuta o revisionismo bíblico que vem “rasgando” o frágil tecido da unidade da igreja.

7. Como cristãos, amamos todos os seres humanos, vendo-os como criação de Deus e, como tal, em constante necessidade do amor e do perdão de Deus; de nós mesmos, também podemos identificar o pecado em nossas vidas.

8. A união entre um homem e uma mulher é como biblicamente entendemos o casamento, por isso o defendemos e praticamos. (Gênesis 2:24)

9. Nós nos voltamos contra a violência contra qualquer ser humano, apesar de sua identidade sexual, e reconhecemos a necessidade de cuidado pastoral para aqueles em conflito.

10. Estamos ansiosos para o GAFCON IV em abril, quando, juntamente com milhares de anglicanos, oraremos, refletiremos e decidiremos os próximos passos a serem dados sobre o assunto.

DECISÃO DO ACiB

Em reflexão e oração, o Conselho Executivo da Igreja Anglicana no Brasil decidiu: Declarar a comunhão prejudicada com Dioceses, igrejas, instituições e líderes da Comunhão Anglicana que apoiam as resoluções do Sínodo Geral do CdE de 2023 sobre bênçãos do mesmo sexo. Também acreditamos ansiosamente que muitos anglicanos na Inglaterra mantêm a fé ortodoxa e estão sob ameaça, por isso oferecemos nossas orações e apoio de qualquer maneira possível.

The Most Revd. Miguel Uchoa
Archbishop and Primate
Chair of the Executive Committee

PRONUNCIAMENTO DO PRIMAZ DA IGREJA ANGLICANA NO BRASIL

PRONUNCIAMENTO DO PRIMAZ DA IGREJA ANGLICANA NO BRASIL

Meu filho, guarde consigo a sensatez e o equilíbrio, nunca os percas de vista Pv 3:21

Querido povo da Igreja Anglicana no Brasil Graça e paz Sim, precisamos de muita graça de Deus e de muita paz nestes dias. Nós da IAB estamos monitorando toda essa situação e entendemos que necessitaremos de sensatez e equilíbrio, de fato em momentos como esses em que as notícias se espalham de todas as formas, corretas e equivocadas, surgem os “profetas” da salvação, os que espalham notícias sem verificar sua veracidade e também aqueles que acham que estão imunes a essa pandemia. Minha pergunta é: “Você já pegou uma gripe na vida?” pois bem, lembremo-nos que a chuva cai sobre justos e injustos. Considerando que existem localidades onde AINDA não foi verificado nenhum caso, mas que, lamentavelmente podem existir casos não notificados ou virão a existir, pela normalidade de uma pandemia, decidimos orientar a Igreja, sua liderança e seu povo a tomar as medidas necessárias para deter esse vírus ou, amenizar a curva de contaminação, que é o alvo das autoridades. Sugerimos que as lideranças em cada localidade averiguem qual seja sua melhor estratégia de ação de acordo com o discernimento de cada um e das recomendações das autoridades competentes. Algumas decisões já foram tomadas por algumas igrejas de nossa província. Eventos estão sendo suspensos ou adiados, celebrações presenciais estão sendo suspensas e transmitidas pela internet, o que pessoalmente acho prudente. Como exemplo posso citar a PAES. Suspendemos TODAS as reuniões e eventos presenciais de qualquer tamanho. Tudo está sendo suspenso até 2ª ordem. As celebrações serão transmitidas via redes sociais e youtube, de maneira especial e com melhor qualidade. Isso é apenas um exemplo, mas não uma regra. Como disse, cada líder deverá discernir a ação necessária. É da responsabilidade de cada comunidade a atitude a ser tomada. Haverá, prejuízos? De alguma maneira sim, ausência da comunhão dos santos, dos programas de evangelismo, talvez haja quedas nas arrecadações etc. Por outro lado, abre-se uma nova cortina de ação onde de alguma forma experimentaremos o que vive a IGREJA PERSEGUIDA em todo mundo e assim mesmo é a que mais cresce, guardadas as devidas proporções. Nesse momento estou de quarentena em casa porque junto com Juliane, minha esposa, voltamos de uma viagem internacional. Isto não me prende, porque nem as correntes detiveram o apóstolo Paulo. Usemos da criatividade que Deus nos deu e nesse momento promovamos um tempo de colheita.

Miguel Uchoa

Arcebispo e Primaz Igreja Anglicana no Brasil

THE CHURCH PLANTING BISHOPS OF BRAZIL

THE CHURCH PLANTING BISHOPS OF BRAZIL

Five Brazilian bishops gathered for the first time as a province at an Anglican Communion event. Gafcon 2018 is the largest gathering of Anglicans in 50 years, with about 2,000 representatives from 50 countries, and five of those participants are those who are bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and reclaiming the face of Anglicanism in Brazil. Their movement in Brazil is characterized by youthful passion, up and coming leaders, and new strategies.

Archbishop Miguel Uchoa and Bishops Marcio Meira, Flavio Soares, Marcio Simoes, and Evilasio Tenorio Silva gathered outside during Gafcon 2018 to talk about church planting strategies in the new province.

One such strategy is the House of Peace. Church planting is promoted primarily through cell groups, which, when they multiply to five or seven groups, combine to form a new congregation. Archbishop Miguel Uchoa explained the process:

“To start a House of Peace, we gather one cell group and they choose one house belonging to one friend, usually not a Christian, who is willing to host a Bible study for seven weeks. It is the host that will invite their non-Christian friends and family. We commit to go to that person’s house and do the bible study . . . By the end of the seven weeks, they usually want to keep meeting and if they do, we continue for another 12 weeks, which we call a friends group. Usually during this time most people accept Christ, and we start a cell group with those gathered there. If it is in a town that is far, they will multiply by doing a House of Peace themselves until they become a congregation in that area. This process is new for us in the last two years, but it has been very successful.”

The current zeal for church planting now displayed in the Province of Brazil is not much different than in the past. They were already church planters in the Diocese of Recife, but the rest of the Church was not. It was an island of zeal surrounded by a dying church that is still dying. Recife was mission-minded and continued to develop new strategies despite the lack of support from much of the other Episcopal leadership, and now that they have left to form their own province, they have flourished more than ever before.

While the zeal for church planting has not changed since the split, strategies have, and all the bishops were excited about the promising developments in the House of Peace movement. Bishop Marcio Meira explained, “With the House of Peace strategy, we have seen how we have grown and how quickly we have planted over the past two years.” They have grown indeed. Currently there are 55 churches in the Province of Brazil, three dioceses, and 74 clergy. This includes the five bishops present at Gafcon 2018, five men who are gatekeepers through which the Lord has worked to build his church in Brazil by the Holy Spirit.

Order in photo (left to right)
Bishop Marcio Simoes – Diocese of Vittoria

Archbishop Miguel Uchoa – Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Brazil

Bishop Flavio Soares – Missionary Bishop of the Diocese of Recife

Bishop Marcio Meira – Diocese of Joao Pessoa

Bishop Evilasio Tenorio Silva – Assistant Bishop for Diocese of Recife